The present invention relates to mits and, more particularly, to a self-contained mit that is used to gather waste debris, after which, the mit is reversable to form a tieable bag that is capable of securing the gathered waste debris for proper disposal.
Hand held wearing apparel such as mits are typically used to retrieve and dispose of waste debris. With respect to animals or pets, this wearing apparel is designed to be worn on the hand of the user for retrieval of the animal feces or, generally, waste debris. The wearing apparel is then converted into a bag or container that is used to secure the waste debris for later disposal.
A significant problem with the wearing apparel for the disposal of this waste debris, especially owners who publicly walk their animals, is that the wearing apparel is inherently ineffective for the retrieval or collection of the animal feces or waste debris.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,882 to Leutholt entitled xe2x80x9cPetpotty-Pickupxe2x80x9d discloses an apparatus for the retrieval and disposal of domesticated house animal""s waste. The apparatus consists of a mitten with a closed top and an open bottom, a thumb portion, and a draw strap situated around the circumference of the bottom of the mitten. In use, the hand is inserted into the open bottom of the mitten with the four main fingers placed in the large portion of the mitten and the thumb placed in the thumb portion. To collect the animal feces or waste, the user gently encloses the hand around the feces to form a closed fist around the feces. After which, the user pulls the open bottom of the apparatus over the mitten to invert the apparatus to hold the feces and permit the hand to be removed from the mitten. The draw strap is then tightened to secure and close the feces within the apparatus.
This patent, however, has several inherent shortcomings. First, the combination of the flat mitten portion and the thumb portion do not permit either a complete or easy retrieval or collection of the animal feces. In fact, when the mitten portion and the thumb portion are closed around the animal feces, much of the animal feces is permitted to escape due to the flat portion of the mit not being able to contain the animal feces or prevent the collected animal feces from escaping. As a result, the user is forced to use several apparatus or mittens to completely collect and dispose of all the animal feces, a requirement which is unnecessary, wasteful, and time consuming. Second, the width of the mitten portion and the thumb portion are greater than the width of the bottom of the apparatus such that, upon the apparatus being inverted, the enclosed fist of the mitten portion and the thumb portion that contains the animal feces is required to be clinched tighter to accommodate the smaller width of the bottom of the apparatus. Thus, more of the animal feces will be forced to escape from the enclosed, clinched fist prior to the apparatus being inverted. As a result, the user is again forced to use several apparatus or mittens to completely collect and dispose of all the animal feces, a requirement which is unnecessary, wasteful, and time consuming.
The retrieval and collection problems of animal feces by the mitten apparatus are solved by U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,726 to Hoerl entitled xe2x80x9cGlove Bagxe2x80x9d. This patent discloses a container which consists of a storage space with a glove on one end and an open mouth on the other. In use, the hand is inserted into the open mouth and through the storage space into a glove that contains five finger sections to completely secure each individual finger of the hand. The user collects the desired materials with the glove and, then, inverts the container such that user""s hand becomes removable from the glove with the collected materials remaining within the storage space. A drawstring is then wrapped about the open mouth to seal the container and the collected materials for disposal.
An inherent shortcoming of this patent is that the five finger glove, while solving the disadvantages of the mitten, does not retain the advantages of the mitten. Animal feces have several forms: solid, firm but compressible, and liquid. Except for the solid form, the five finger glove permits the other two forms of animal feces to escape between each of the fingers during collection. As a result, the user is forced to use several containers or gloves to completely collect and dispose of all the animal feces, a requirement which is also unnecessary, wasteful, and time consuming. Another inherent shortcoming is that, upon the container being inverted, the collected animal feces, if not in the solid form, will deposit into each of the individual five fingers of the glove and form part of the storage space. Since the individual fingers are the actual size of fingers, large deposits may be made from the collection. As the individual fingers are not as strong as the storage space as a whole, each finger of the container is susceptible to breaking and, thereby, not permitting the proper disposal of the animal feces but displacing it instead in unwanted places.
The problems of the wearing apparel are, however, solved by the present invention: a unique self-contained reversible mit that effectively retrieves waste debris with a finger tip combination and then, using a flared portion, properly transforms the mit into a tieable storage bag for ultimate disposal.
Thus, there is a need and there has never been disclosed a unique self-contained and reversible mit to effectively retrieve and dispose of waste debris.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a self-contained mit to effectively retrieve the waste debris.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mit that is reversible to effectively store and dispose of the collected waste debris. A related object of the invention is to provide a mit that enables transformation from a retrievable mit into a storage bag. Still another related object of the invention is to provide a mit which enables the waste debris to be properly secured within the storage bag.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mit that is biodegradable along with the waste debris.
Another object of the invention is to provide a mit that is economical to manufacture and available for practical use by the user.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a mit that is safe and easy to use.
Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is a mit designed to contemporaneously retrieve and store waste debris for ultimate disposal. The mit is divided into a hand portion and a heel portion that are integrated along a flared portion. The hand portion consists of finger sections that correspond to each of the finger tips of a hand. The hand portion flares inwardly toward the heel portion which then flares outwardly, in a direction opposite the finger sections, to terminate in a base. Located at the base are two ties to secure the waste debris within the resulting bag that is formed from the reversibility of the mit.